Two weeks ago, a group of Carleton students concerned with the silence on campus regarding the recent Gaza-Israel conflict decided to speak up. Now, after gathering signatures for a national petition and hosting a successful panel discussion, Let’s Talk is quickly making its presence known. The organization was formed in response to the lack of knowledge at Carleton of Middle Eastern conflict and political situations.

As evidenced by several articles in last week’s Carletonian, there are a number of student concerns about recent changes in Dining Services. In an effort to respond to these concerns and to ensure that the Carleton community has the most accurate information possible about these changes, I offer the following comments.

“Teamwork” is a word that usually refers to sports, but the people involved in the upcoming Carleton play, The House of Seven Gables, give that word new meaning. A crew of over thirty students have been working on the play, and only five of them will be onstage opening night. The rest are involved in costume design, prop design, sound design, and more. Director Ruth Weiner, Professor of Theater and the Liberal Arts at Carleton, has the difficult job of “coordinating all the many, many different people.”

Carleton College ranks 20th in the number of Peace Corps volunteers for 2008, as the College produced 15 alumni volunteers last year to push its cumulative alumni Peace Corps volunteer number past the 500 mark.

Carleton’s residential office, better known as Res Life, released the lottery numbers for the 2009-2010 academic year earlier last week along with the statement that only a hundred rising seniors would get the chance of getting Northfield Option.

Long disparaged as lowbrow and unworthy of critical attention, melodrama receives a fresh look from curators Carol Donelan, professor of cinema and media studies, and Laurel Bradley, director of exhibitions, with input from students enrolled in a course taught fall term at Carleton, “The Melodramatic Imagination.” Rooted in cheap stage shows, circus spectacles and sentimental literature, melodrama matured as a cinematic genre in the early twentieth century.

If ever the Carleton men's basketball team could have picked a time to get hot, this was it. The Knights decisively won all three of their games over the past week, culminating in a 68-50 stomping at St. Mary's Wednesday night that saw the team clinch its eighth consecutive trip to the MIAC playoffs and senior forward Zach Johnson move into second place on Carleton's all-time scoring list.

Ally Weaver ’11 was a red-hot 5-for-5 from beyond the arc and finished with 17 points in a 67-46 Knights (9-11, 8-9 MIAC) victory over the St. Mary’s Cardinals on Wednesday. Senior Hannah Oken-Berg moved to sixth in career rebounds while posting 16 points and 10 rebounds

After winning the 55-meter dash, taking second in the 200 meters and posting two personal best times at the St. Olaf Invitational Friday night, Nick Cesarek ’09 was named MIAC track athlete of the week Monday.

Rod Blagojevich, last Thursday, lost his job as governor of Illinois. Impeached for attempting to sell former Senator Barack Obama's seat to the highest bidder, the former governor leaves behind a legacy of shallowness, callousness, and utter incompetence. However, his sham of a trial leaves a legacy of political pandering.

I would like to start by thanking Katie Blanchard and Dan Curme for opening up the discussion about the Gaza war on campus in a way that allowed the conversation to continue and in a way that did not simply deteriorate into hostility as it so easily could have. It is never healthy to try to ignore festering and inevitable controversy or conflict. Thus, I am writing this in order to continue this debate and to present another viewpoint.